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Saturday, December 5, 2009

Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joe's

So this is the last post of mint week. And since we started with cookies, I thought we should end with cookies.

Last year when I fell in love with the Candy Cane Oreos, I got several suggestions that I should try Trader Joe's version: the Candy Cane Joe Joe's. I agreed but sadly, I couldn't get a box; I guess last year's batch was just that good.

But this year I made sure to get me some! (Wait, that sounded bad...)

Joe-Joe's come in a nice cardboard box and are sealed into in an Oreo style plastic tray inside. The box contains a pound of cookie goodness. The cookies themselves are chocolate wafer cookies. Nestled between the cookies is a layer of vanilla flavored cream, studded with actual pieces of candy canes! OK, the description sold me.

This is not going to be an easy challenge for Trader Joe. And since Oreo is pretty widely available, that is what I am going to use for comparisons sake.

The wafer is softer than its Oreo counterpart. I actually sort of liked that. The pieces broke off in sort of a flaky way. Texture-wise I really liked them. Flavor-wise...eh, not as much. The chocolate flavor is not as strong as the mass-market Oreo. I don't often say this about cookies, but I think it could benefit from a little salt. It's still tasty, but I thought the wafers were kind of bland.

The creme: It is a pretty looking filling. It's a delicate pastel pink, and you can actually see the candy bits. And speaking of the candy bits, I really liked the crunch. The pieces aren't big enough that you find yourself wondering why they didn't just throw the whole cane in. I know the creme is supposed to be vanilla flavored, but I didn't really pick that up. The creme is pretty smooth and the portion is generous (I would compare it more to a Double Stuffed Oreo than a regular Oreo)

The milk test: The wafer quickly becomes soggy -- which I love. And the sogginess makes the crunches pop even more, which was also good. I did like the cookies better in milk.

I know that Joe-Joe's have a hugely dedicated following, which I am now probably going to annoy...right...about...now...

I do give Trader Joe props for using ingredients that one can actually pronounce and that are probably Dwight Schrute approved and/or supplied (beet color). But while I found the Joe-Joe's to be a decent cookie, I still prefer the big, bad, mystery ingredient-laden competitor.

4 comments:

I can't agree with you more regarding the Candy Cane oreos vs the TJ's Candy Cane Joe-Joe's. At least in regards to last year. I was a MASSIVE fan of the peppermint oreo's and I bought many boxes of them. The year before that I was a huge fan of the Trader Joes brand, but they changed last year and I found them rather disgusting.

I can't tell you how excited I was to see the Candy Cane Oreo's at Wal-mart this year. I bought 3 boxes and ran to the check out line. I was beyond excited and ready to sink into them... then I tasted my first bite, and I was sooo disappointed. They changed the recipe, the formula... something. It wasn't anything like last year. I looked at the box and they advertise some sort of new candy sprinkles. They tasted stale and bland. I headed back to Wal-mart and returned the other two packages. I have yet to finish off the 3rd pack that I opened. I've tried several times hoping it was just a bad cookie but it's not.

They did something to them and they screwed up their best flavor ever. I look forward to see if you have the same experience I did.

Ryan:I have been hoping my local Walmart would have this years version of the Candy Cane Oreo's but sadly, they have only had the Mint Fudge Oreo's. To be fair they were pretty good- but I wanted the Candy Cane type!